The following includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art, or relevant, to the presently described or claimed inventions, or that any publication or document that is specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
The field of cosmetics is flourishing. However, the application of fingernail polish onto fingernails and toenails is a long and laborious process. Typically, consumers desirous of decorating their fingernails and/or toenails with a particular color, artwork, and/or design usually need go to a professional nail salon and have the desired graphics applied manually in the form of a liquid nail-polish. These conventional liquid nail-polish manicures techniques often involve the laborious processes of filing, polishing, and painting (which may also include the application of primers, sealants, and/or topcoats) of the fingernail or toenails. In addition, conventional manicure techniques may also include the application of silk wrap, artificial nail tips (e.g. French manicure), acrylics, or artificial nail gels. These processes are usually costly, time-consuming (e.g. long drying time), and the finished nail surfaces are usually prone to chipping, thus, repeated applications are often necessary in order to maintain the desired appearance. Furthermore, many ingredients found in conventional fingernail polish and/or nail polish removers tend to contain harmful chemical components, including phthalates, formaldehyde, and/or organic solvents, many of which may produce noxious vapors that may be hazardous to one's health.
Various devices, methods, and systems have been devised to improve the nail art process, including for example, those reported in U.S. Pat. No. 5,309,365 U.S. Pat. No. 5,209,250, U.S. Pat. No. 4,824,702, U.S. Pat. No. 5,525,389, U.S. Pat. No. 6,491,781, U.S. Pat. No. 5,681,631, U.S. Pat. No. 7,123,983; U.S. Pat. No. 6,561,196; U.S. Pat. No. 6,328,949; U.S. Pat. No. 6,065,969; U.S. Pat. No. 5,873,375; U.S. Pat. No. 4,974,610; WO2005070048; U.S. Pat. No. 6,063,494; and US2005/0150508. However, certain conventional graphic sign-making techniques known in the art employ vinyl films impregnated with pigments or dyes, and these are used with release coated materials where transfer tapes are required for the sign making process. These conventional pigments suffer from the defect that they are not suitable for outdoor use because the dyes and pigments are subject to attack and degradation by ultra violet light. As a result, a certain number of these conventional techniques still require the use of chemical primers, sealants and top coats (often at room temperature) to supplement the application of these sign-making films for decorative purposes in order to produce a sustained and stable color and appearance characteristics. Thus, despite these attempts, the technique of applying liquid nail-polish remains as the primary and predominant approach for decorating fingernails and/or toenails in the cosmetic industry.